Interesting: A BBC story about The Mercury 13. They were a secret group of women who were training with NASA to become the first women in space. And, though this may shock those of us who were certain that women immediately gained a full and completely equal footing with men on all matters the second they won suffrage in 1920, the Mercury 13 met with constant resistance and skepticism. NASA never officially sanctioned their group or their training program, as far as I can tell.

In part, Ms Akman said, they were restricted by prejudice both within Nasa and also other parts of the scientific community. "The environment here really did suggest that women were thought of as weaker, as less intelligent, as not able to handle the complicated skill that would be required in spaceflight," she stressed. Unlike their male counterparts - all of whom were test pilots flying with the full backing of the military - the Mercury 13 women were ordinary civilians. This raised another problem - they had to get time off from their jobs. "These women had to approach their bosses and say: 'I have to be away for a while - I can't exactly tell you why, I can't exactly tell you where I'm going,' and some of them lost their jobs," Ms Akman said.

Eventually, the Russians sent up a woman (who, like Gagarin, seems also not to have seen any god up there), and that was it for the chicks. They even appealed to then-VP LBJ. No dice. I know, I know. "Johnson? Insensitive and closed-minded? Never!" I feel the same way, but it's true. I don't need to fill in the rest of the history for you, but, just for closure: in 1986, NASA finally sent two women, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, into space. As we all know, they were sent to Mars to help the Martian women win suffrage and to lobby the Martian congress for a true and universal prohibition on spirituous beverages.